Weather officials are surveying storm damage and thousands are without power after a sudden, severe thunderstorm crossed Central Oklahoma on Tuesday night.

In Oklahoma City, neighborhoods like Britton Road saw severe damage, KOCO reports, after wind gusts up to 80 mph blasted through, causing roof damage and downing power lines.

About 30,000 customers are still affected across 16 counties, with the largest impact in Oklahoma County, reports Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co. Closer to 2 a.m. Wednesday morning, almost 60,000 OG&E customers were without power.

OG&E customers can report outages online.

Storm damage in Oklahoma today

Several neighborhoods reported some forms of storm damage, while others saw more extensive damage, including downed power lines and shredded roofs.

Map: Oklahoma power outages today

See live updates on how weather is impacting OGE power.

PSO power outage map

See live updates on how weather is impacting PSO power.

National Weather Service updates

Live radar Oklahoma weather

People often ask me about how sustainable Oklahoma Voice’s operations are. It’s a fair question in an ever-shifting media landscape that’s plagued by layoffs, publication closures and lots of uncertainty about the future of our industry.

We’re lucky to be a part of States Newsroom. This nonprofit network has  obtained sustainable, recurring funding for the four core positions in our nonprofit newsroom, which are held by myself and reporters Barbara Hoberock, Nuria Martinez-Keel and Emma Murphy.

That support will ensure we’re around for years to come.

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St. Isidore, which aims to serve 1,500 students online within Oklahoma by its fifth year of operation, has the backing of Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt as well as former state schools superintendent Ryan Walters. Proponents of the plan say the online school would be a boon for rural Oklahoma students who do not have a Catholic school in their area. 

The Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board had in April 2023 voted unanimously to disapprove the school’s application, later in June approving the contract 3-2 after revisions to the application.  

Brett Farley, executive director of the Oklahoma Catholic Conference and a board member for the proposed school, told CNA following the first disapproval that the plan’s backers were “not discouraged at all.” He said at the time he believed Oklahoma’s government presents a “favorable environment to negotiate protections for religious liberty” to ensure that the school’s Catholic identity is not threatened by the acceptance of public funds. 

The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City had pushed for approval of the school after former Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor issued an advisory opinion in late 2022 stating that because of the Supreme Court’s recent rulings, Oklahoma’s provisions banning religious schools from accessing public funds as charters could be unconstitutional. He cautioned that this legal change would not mean that religious schools using public funds “can necessarily operate however they want.” Drummond withdrew his predecessor’s opinion on the matter.

In a dissent to the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s majority opinion, Justice Dana Kuehn argued that St. Isidore’s would be a partner of the state, not a government entity, and thus the state denying funds to St. Isidore’s because it is religious would violate the free exercise clause of the First Amendment.

“St. Isidore would not be replacing any secular school, only adding to the options available, which is the heart of the Charter Schools Act,” she wrote. 

“The state is not required to partner with private entities to provide common education. But if it does, it cannot close the door to an otherwise qualified entity simply because it is sectarian … Contracting with a private entity that has religious affiliations, by itself, does not establish a state religion, nor does it favor one religion over another.”